The past few days have been stormy and wet! The rain doesn’t seem to stop. We were supposed to go to a friends’ house for dinner when my phone started blowing up with warnings.
Along with the scary words, a horrendous sound goes off.
I called our friends and questioned if we should cancel and stay home due to the phone warnings. However, we ended up going because it’s uphill a mile and there wouldn’t be any washes to drive through. The rain had stopped when we drove and the roads were drying up.
Unfortunately, the entire area was not that lucky. To date, four people lost their lives who were in their cars about an hour south of us. I don’t think these warnings should be taken lightly.
The roadrunner paid us a visit. He moves quickly and this was the only picture I managed to get.
House finch on the beavertail art.
A spotted a gilded flicker in the tree.
This house finch looks all fluffed up.
Have you had any weather warnings this early Fall? If so, what have they been about?
Now that I’ve been home for a few weeks, I’ve been enjoying photographing my backyard birds. I find it relaxing as well as rewarding. Red and Mrs. stop by several times every day. I think I have another male cardinal, too. At first I thought it was Red, but this guy is a little chunkier and has a dark gray spot on his beak.
How can I be sure if there’s another male, because Red and the other guy are never in the backyard at the same time. Last spring, I saw two red Cardinals chasing each other, flying at full speed over our house. That’s the only time I saw two males together.
This one is definitely Red. See there’s not a gray mark on his beak. The photo below is the imposter Red. Or, it might be Red with a bruised beak. My first few days home, I took photos of this guy, thinking it was my Red.
Here’s Mrs. on a planter at the edge of our fence.
I was pleasantly surprised with this finch photo because of the sharp detail on the barrel cactus.
The birds love their perch on a flamingo.
Here’s a view looking out the casita window with my telephoto lens set at 80mm instead of 400mm I use for closeups of critters.
I haven’t seen the cardinal with the gray spot on his beak lately. So that brings the questions of the day:
Do you think I had an imposter Red? Or, did Red bruise his beak and now it’s healed?
What’s your opinion and why?
JoyRoses13 from Nuggets of Gold wrote a fun story on her blog using my photos and another photographer’s. You can read it HERE.
I’m watching birds early in the morning while sitting outside writing my morning pages. Then I pick up my camera while sitting at a table inside. I’ve seen three separate families of quail. They are small families with the largest having four babies, then another with two and the final family has mom, dad and one baby.
House finch on a young saguaro.
A Harris Hawk stopped by and the little birds flew away.
Mrs. arrived for a snack. A House Finch tried to intimidate her, but she stood her ground.
I hope you enjoyed my photos that I took over the weekend. Happy Father’s Day to everyone and have a great week!
I’m going to share some bird and flower photos I took this week — after my story about a name — our last name to be precise.
We had trouble with a guy living in Southern California with the same last name. He also has an of initial of E — which is my first initial. To top that off, he shares an initial with my husband.
It was years ago when a collection agency called. I also got letters. Somehow they got us mixed up with this other guy with the same name and common initials who wasn’t paying his credit card bills. In the mail, I got a list of overdue bills from a collection agency — in the thousands of dollars — that they tried to collect from us!
This guy is 30 years younger than us. How could they mix us up? Well, I don’t think they cared. Our phone rang every day. The emails and letters kept coming with threatening messages. I kept calling back, sending letters, explaining it wasn’t us. It took about a year of headaches and stress to unwind this unfortunate mixed-up identity.
I googled the collection agency. Other people had experienced the same mix up and relentless calls and letters.
Forward seven or eight years to Monday this week, and I got an email from an attorney threatening to sue us for a $48,000 plus debt from a builder supply store. It was sent to me and one other email address — which belongs to the other guy!
Rather than go through a year of hassle, my husband forwarded the email to our attorney, who is telling them they are barking up the wrong tree.
Now for my favorite photos of the week:
A bird knocked this blossom off the top of a saguaro. I put it in a glass of water on my desk. I’m enjoying the beauty and taking photos of it.
Blooms at the tippy top of the saguaro. I found the blossom on the ground beneath it.
A House Finch captured eating Barrel Cactus blossoms in the morning light.
A Great Tailed Grackle makes his first appearance in our backyard.
Gila Woodpecker on a Beavertail Cactus yard ornament.
Red in the morning light climbing down a watering line from a planter. Wouldn’t it be easier to fly?
Mrs. in the BirdBuddy AI feeder with a real live bird buddy.
Have you ever had identity theft or mistaken identity? If so, what happened?
Red has been hanging out in the backyard. He’s often with the Mrs. Every time I try to get a photo of the two of them, they fly off. Once they were sitting together on a rock and I watched Red feed her birdseed!
I woke up yesterday with a sore neck, shoulders, back and hands. I attribute it to photography. I spent hours over several days working on my final project. Then, yesterday I went golfing with a friend. We haven’t been out for 18 months. We figured the lapse in time, because we drove to a public course with a driving range and were told the range is for members only. We asked when that happened and they said “17 months ago.”
Waking up today, my arms are hurting along with the other parts. No longer am I achy. I feel achy breaky.
I’ve completed my redo of my photography final, but the instructor threw in another twist. He added a research report due on Sunday. I’m supposed to find a photograph or photographer whose work has been taken out of context from the original intent. I’ve googled various phrases to try and find something.
I found an iconic photo of The Beatles with Muhammad Ali. The context is that it was during The Beatles first trip to the US after the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. Ali was known as Cassius Clay and he had an upcoming fight with Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston. Clay was 22 years old and not the famous person he would become. The Beatles wanted a photo with Liston but he refused. The Beatles publicist arranged the photo with Clay. Today, it’s a photo of some of the most famous people in the world. But back then, it was not.
I wrote it up, but I don’t think it’s really hitting the right note. Not so much out of context. So, back to research. If you have any ideas — I’ll be forever grateful!
Here are two photos with settings my photography instructor suggested. FYI, these aren’t part of my redo of my final project, just photos:
A Gila Woodpecker landing on the fence.
A House Finch on a cacti lawn ornament.
Any ideas for my research report?
What difference do you see with the new settings my instructor suggested, including the photo of Red above?
What a start to the New Year! New Orleans. Las Vegas. Queens. All on day one.
I’ve heard that our country is most vulnerable during a transition of power. I’m not sure if that’s why all this happened or not, but I’m hoping and praying for quieter and peaceful days ahead.
The last couple days, I’ve taken photos of birds and plants in my backyard. What a good time to share my bird buddies, and to reflect and enjoy nature.
Hawk number one was joined by a friend.
I’ve had visits from a bright red Northern Cardinal daily. I haven’t seen his wife lately. I hope she’s okay.
Mourning Doves roosting on the fence catching the morning sun.
There are always a handful of House Finches flitting around.
It’s not very often a quail flies up into the bird feeder. They prefer the ground.
I also enjoy my two pink flamingos with their little red friend.
The early birds I’m talking about aren’t these gorgeous creatures in my backyard. I’m talking about me and my hubby.
We’ve become the couple we used to laugh at. You know, the ones who have dinner at 4:30 or 5 p.m. to save money. Now, when we go out, we go early to take advantage of early bird prices that end at 6 p.m. Only these days, it’s no longer called “early bird specials” but “happy hour.”
A neighborhood couple invited us to dinner for restaurant week that features three-course meals at reduced prices. We declined because their reservation was too late for us! It was at the wee hour at night of 6:30 p.m. To be fair, my husband works in the financial world and he’s on east coast time. His work day begins three hours earlier than most people out west.
This is the state bird of Arizona, the cactus wren.
It’s gotten hotter the past couple weeks. I began setting my alarm so that I’m up before sunrise. We’ve changed our walking schedule to avoid the heat. We are heading out the door before 6 a.m. — which also makes us early birds.
One of our neighbors told us her method for walking. (Who knew you needed a method?) She turns right out of her driveway and continues to walk on the right side of the road. By doing that, she said she hits every road and cul-de-sac in the neighborhood — and ends back at her front door. My husband and I have been random walkers, going whichever way our whims take us. But this week, we tried it and not only does it add a little distance to our walk, we’re seeing streets we were previously missing.
I wrote about successful people who are early birds HERE.
What are your thoughts about early bird specials and getting up early?
